Wikileaks to begin fundraising for Snowden 'Flight of Liberty'

Wikileaks has suggested that it will begin a campaign to fly the fugitive
leaker Edward Snowden away from the grasp of the American authorities.

Edward Snowden is believed to be still in Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow
Photo: AP

By Tom Parfitt in Moscow and Alex Spillius

8:46PM BST 10 Jul 2013

The whistleblowing website said via Twitter that it was on the verge of beginning what it called a “Flight of Liberty” campaign.

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who first published details of US mass surveillance allegedly stolen by Mr Snowden from the US National Security Agency, meanwhile said he believed Venezuela was his most likely destination.

The Left-wing South American state has offered asylum to the 30-year-old American, who has been marooned in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport since June 23.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, a WikiLeaks spokesman, could not give further details of the campaign, but said to watch for further announcements.

He also declined to comment on whether or not WikiLeaks would seek to raise funds for Mr Snowden’s flight out of Moscow. That could be costly, as a plane may have to be chartered.

But Mr Hrafnsson pointed out that WikiLeaks was now better able to raise money online.

“As of the beginning of this month, we have been able to open the direct donation route to the organisation because MasterCard basically backed down after two and a half years of blocking donations to us. So it is now much easier for people to express support for the organisation by donating to us,” he said.

Asked about Mr Snowden’s conditions, Mr Hrafnsson said: “I believe he is in a fairly good situation, and is well and in good spirits. A colleague of mine, Sarah Harrison, has been accompanying him since leaving Hong Kong.”

He said the whistleblower was in contact with Julian Assange and his team. “I cannot go into details of the nature of the communication between the WikiLeaks team and Mr Snowden, but it is a good line of communication,” he said.

Meanwhile, Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, said on Wednesday that Russia was not taking any action over Mr Snowden because he had not applied for asylum in the country.

Asked if the American’s stay at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport would spoil Russia’s image abroad, Mrs Matviyenko told reporters: “In this case, Russia is strictly following the existing international rules. Agent Snowden is in the transit zone on the basis of the norms that exist. The situation is complicated; it has reached an impasse. What can Russia do? He is in the transit zone legally, like a normal transit passenger.”